So Much More and So Much the Same
My first thought as I look at Elly sweeping in today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse is that Elly must be left-handed, judging from the hand position she has on the broom. The second thought is that Elly has returned to a style we haven’t seen since Monday April 7, 2008. Lynn is using sound effect words to convey what it is that Elly is doing, even though it is not in the picture. In addition to sweeping, Elly is also dusting, wiping, and cleaning. In other words, Elly is doing a lot more cleaning than what is pictured in the panel.
Added to this is the final panel showing young Michael Patterson with a face and head shape so much like Charles Schulz’s work in Peanuts, Lynn should just have cut him a royalty cheque. We see little Michael and Lizzie making their usual mess, that has appeared in countless strips. This time, however, because it being contrasted with Elly super-cleaning mode, we know that even though Lynn has illustrated all the sound effects which appear beside the two, these are only a small portion of the actual mess these two are making. There is more mess than appears in the panel, if Lynn Johnston is maintaining the same rules of sound effects that she did for Elly in the prior panel.
This is actually a fairly clever combination in terms of how the sound effects represent more than what is seen. I thought I had seen strips with the kids making messes as fast as Elly could clean them up, but a quick glance through the last 2 years of strips, does not show the 2 elements in combination. It has been either Elly shrieking because of the housework and a mess the kids made, or the kids have been shown to be making a mess entirely on their own. It takes a different breed of kid to make a mess right in front of their parent while she is cleaning.
I know the breed though. My son is that way. Just today, he had finished sweeping up an area, and then got a chocolate cupcake and left crumbs all over the floor he had just swept. Fortunately, he knew where the broom was, and he had to resweep.
Added to this is the final panel showing young Michael Patterson with a face and head shape so much like Charles Schulz’s work in Peanuts, Lynn should just have cut him a royalty cheque. We see little Michael and Lizzie making their usual mess, that has appeared in countless strips. This time, however, because it being contrasted with Elly super-cleaning mode, we know that even though Lynn has illustrated all the sound effects which appear beside the two, these are only a small portion of the actual mess these two are making. There is more mess than appears in the panel, if Lynn Johnston is maintaining the same rules of sound effects that she did for Elly in the prior panel.
This is actually a fairly clever combination in terms of how the sound effects represent more than what is seen. I thought I had seen strips with the kids making messes as fast as Elly could clean them up, but a quick glance through the last 2 years of strips, does not show the 2 elements in combination. It has been either Elly shrieking because of the housework and a mess the kids made, or the kids have been shown to be making a mess entirely on their own. It takes a different breed of kid to make a mess right in front of their parent while she is cleaning.
I know the breed though. My son is that way. Just today, he had finished sweeping up an area, and then got a chocolate cupcake and left crumbs all over the floor he had just swept. Fortunately, he knew where the broom was, and he had to resweep.
posted by howard at 10:21 PM
5 Comments:
It has been either Elly shrieking because of the housework and a mess the kids made, or the kids have been shown to be making a mess entirely on their own. It takes a different breed of kid to make a mess right in front of their parent while she is cleaning.
You'll notice the blank-eyed smiles on their faces as they do so; this is because they're fairly young and have yet to work out the connection between the mess they make and Elly's constant shrieking. When they do do so, it's too late because Elly would rather clean it herself than risk them not do so the way her mother taught her to do so.
What I like best (for a certain definition of "like") is how Lizzy appears to be intentionally pouring crumbs on the floor for no reason.
Lizzy appears to be intentionally pouring crumbs on the floor for no reason.
I was noticing that, too. 0_o
DreadedCandiru2
When they do do so, it's too late because Elly would rather clean it herself than risk them not do so the way her mother taught her to do so.
Eventually the kids get to the point where they mock Elly for her cleaning obsessions. The famous sheet-shaving strip, not only has Elly shaving sheets, but also has the kids looking at her astounded that she would do it.
Clio,
What I like best (for a certain definition of "like") is how Lizzy appears to be intentionally pouring crumbs on the floor for no reason.
For some reason I have this image in my head of Michael saying to Lizzie, “If you want to get all the chips, shake the bag like this, so they come out on the floor. Then you can pick them up and eat them.” And then thinking to himself, "Lizzie's gonna be in so much trouble."
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